Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-05-12

Effects of Impulse ON Men and AMI
malS.

Effects of Impulse ON Men aud AMI
mails.
IRoN-BorND HABITS OF OLD AGE-TRANsIENT In
sTINCTs OF INFANCY.
Henry James, in an article in .Scritner's Mngd-
zine On 'Instinct," shows that he has given close
study to this faculty in its various forms it ap
pears In man and beast. After defining the word
for the purposes OF his discussion and showing
that the faculty Is present in all living beings, he
arrives at a conclusion different from the older
writer's on the subject, who smothered everything
in a vague wonder at the clairV0yant and pro-
phi etc power OF the animals so superior to any
thing in man, and at the benefIcence Of God in
endowing them with such gift. He concludes
that every instinct is an impulse, and that man
has greater variety OF impulses than any lower
animal, and any one OF these impulses is as
.bind" as the lowest instinct can be; but owing
to mans memory, power OF reflection and power
OF inference they come each one to be felt by him
In connection with foresight OF their results 1t
is obvious that every Instinct in an animal with
memory must be accompanied with foresight rs
10 its end just so far as that end may have fallen
under the animalS cOgniZance. Thus 1t is plain
that no matter how well endowed an animal may
originally be in the matter OF instincts hts actions
will be much modified II, in addition to impulses,
he have memories, associations and differences on
any considerable scale.
Young animals" says the writer, Immediately
after birth, have no instinct of fear, but show
their dependence by allowing themselves to be
freely handled Later. however, they grow wild,
and. If left to themselves, will not let man ap-
proach them. am told by farmers in the Adiron-
dack wilderness that IL is very serious matter
Ii a COW wanders OF and calves In the woods and
time, is as wild and almost as fleet as deer, and
hard 10 capture without violence. But calves
rarely show any particular wildness to the men
who have been In contact with them during the
DAYS their HE. when instinct TO attach
themselves is uppermOSt, nor do they dread
strangers as they would If brought up Wild
This leads TO the law OF transformers, which is
this: That many instincts ripen at a certain age,
and then fade away. A consequence OF this law
Vyaety aae e % s ar an r @
with, habit OF acting on them is formed, which
remains when the original instinct has passed
then no habit will be formed; and later On in life,
when the animal meets the objects he will alto
gether fail TO react, as at the earlier epoch he
would 1nStinctfvely have done. No doubt such
law Is restricted. Some Instincts are far less
transient than OtherS-thoSe connected with feed
ing and Misrepresentation" may hardly be tran
silent az all, and some after fading for time,
recur as strong as ever, the Instincts OF pair
Ing and rearing young. The author cites as an ex-
ample OF the habit OF acting on instinct q Scotch
terrier, born on the floor OF stable and trans
ferred SIX weeks later TO a carpeted house.
When he was four months old he would make
very elaborate preteDce Of bury1ng things, such
as gloves, &C., which he had played with until he
was tired He scratched the carpet with his fore
spot, and then scratched all about it with both
fore and hind feet, il remember rightly, and
nnally went away and let 1t lie or course the act
was entirely useless. saw him perform 1t at that
age some four or i've times and never again in his
life. The conditions were not present 10 fix a
habit which could last when the prompting in
stinct died away. But suppose meat instead OF
glove, earth instead of carpet, hunger pangs in
stead OF fresh supper few hours LATER and 1t is
easy to see how this dog might have got into
habit of burying superftuous food, which might
have lasted all his life.
This popularity is still more noticeable In human
beings. II boy grows up alone at the age OF
games and SPORTS and learns neither TO play ball,
nor row, nor sail, ride, skate nor fish,
shoot, probably he will be sedentary to the end
on his days, and though the best OF opportunities
be Afforded him for learning these things later, 1t
is a hundred to one but he will pass them by and
shrink back from the effort Of taking those neceS-
sary steps the prospect Of which, at an earlier age,
would have filed him with eager delight. The
but 1t Is wen known that its peculiar maniresta
lions In given individual depend almost entirely
on the habits he may form during the early period
OF Its activity. Exposure to bad company then
makes him a loose liver all his days; chastity
kept at first makes the same easy later on. In
ali pedagogy the great thing is to strike the iron
while hot, and seize the wave of the pupils In
tereSt In each successive subject before its ebb has
come, so that knowledge may be got and habit
OF skill acquired Roadway OF interest, in short,
secured, on which afterward the individual may
float. There is happy moment for liking skill in
drawing, for making boys collectors in natural
history, and presently dissectors and bOtanists;
then for initiating them into the harmonies OF
mechanics and the wonders OF physical and chemi-
cal law, and so on. In each OF us a Satura.
ZION point is soon reached In all these things; the
impetus OF our purely Intellectual zeal expires,
and unless the topic be one associated with some
urgent personal need that keeps our wits con-
Stantly whetted about 1t, we settle into an eQul-
hbrium, and live on what We learned when our in
terest was fresh and instructive without adding to
the store.
1t is Tor this reason that, outside of their own
business, the ideas gained by men before they are
twenty-five are practically the only ideas they
have in their lives. They cannot get anything
new. DiSintereSted curiosity Is past. the mental
grooves and channels set, the power OF aSSimia-
lion gone. II, by chance, we ever 90 learn any
thing about some entirely new topic we are
fear to advance a resolute opinion. But with
things learned in the plastic days OF instructive
CURIOSITY we never lose our sense OF being at home
The writer here makes point that the first
duty OF teachers Is TO detect the moment OF the
Instructive readiness for the subject and impress
eeenomy and philosophy they are at present ac-
Quiring are the physics and political economy and
philosophy that Will have 10 serve them to the
end.
Finally, he draws the natural conclusion from
THIS tranS1ency or instincts that most OF them
that, this purpose accomplished the instincts
themselves. as such, have no r0isOn d'etre in the
physical economy, and consequently fade away
That occasionally an instinct should fade before
circumstances permit OF habit being formed or
that, il the habit be formed, other factors than
not surprise US. Life IS full or the imperfect ad-
JuStmenJ TO individual cases, of arrangements
which, taking the species as a whole are quite
orderly anu regular. Instinct cannot be expected
10 escape this general rule.